Page 22 (1/2)

"There," Daphne said a few minutes later "It’s done"

She dropped her hand fro, tired breath When I looked at the gryphon, the creature’s leg was completely healed Except for the blood still ryphon was injured to start with

The baby gryphon seee too The creature scrambled to his feet and shuffled back and forth, as if he was testing out his once-injured leg to see how good a job Daphne had done of healing hi ht want to take it easy - "

But it was too late

With a loud screech, the gryphon flapped his wings and darted up into the air Daphne and I scrambled to our feet The creature hovered inout another screech, zooh the tops of the pine trees, and disappearing into the cloudy gray sky far, far above

All I could do was crane ryphon had been I’d wanted to spend , just as Covington had said I should be grateful the gryphon had let me, Daphne, and Rory help hi was healed I would have to be satisfied with that Plus, it had been rather a to watch him blast up into the sky like a rocket

"Well, that eird," Rory said "Do you guys do stuff like that all the time?"

Daphne and I looked at each other, then at her

"More often than you ht think," Daphne said

Rory wandered over, squatted down, and looked at the snare-snap I’d kicked to the side Daphne and I stared at the device too As Rory had said, it looked like a bear trap - but with listened on so edon that? It ive us a clue about the Reapers"

I didn’t want to use ht So I crouched down, reached out, and touched part of theto get free of the trap flickered throughto see who had planted the trap in the first place For severalon the forest floor, hidden under a pile of leaves and then the snow that had fallen on top of the even further back

A pair of hands popped intoto pull it into even sharper detail, but all I saas so the leaves on top of it Frustration surged through me because I didn’t even see the person - only their hands Even worse, they earing black gloves, so I couldn’t get any sort of sense about whoed to, whether it was a o of the trap, and got to ?" Daphne asked

I shookJust so the trap here"

Rory stared at the trap, then kicked it and sent it flying into a nearby tree She glared at the metal like she wished she could solanced at each other, but we kept quiet We knew all about being angry at the Reapers and not being able to do anything about it

Daphne reached down and grabbed her bow "Well, if we’re all done playing veterinarian, we should leave We need to get back to the others"

Chapter 23

Rory, Daphne, and I walked back to the strea, and no one seeone Oliver didn’t even look up froain I was surprised that he’d found a signal this high up on the ood for hio, and we started back up the steep, winding trail I looked left and right and even peered up into the clouds above, but I didn’t see the baby gryphon anywhere I also didn’t spot the mysterious shadow that had been in the forest earlier, following alongside us Maybe it had just been a curious ani through its turf

Except for a few brief snatches of conversation, everyone was quiet My friends kept scanning the forest on either side of the trail, and Ajax kept sneaking glances over his shoulder, as though he expected so to come up on us from behind We all had our weapons close at hand too - in case the Reapers decided to attack before we reached the ruins

But the n of the Reapers I was about to whine and ask how e The others slowed and then stopped, and we spread out in a straight line across the trail so we could all see the sight before us

A swinging rope bridge stretched, swayed, and slightly sagged between either side of a deep, wide chas rerand stone mansion covered the landscape

"We’re here," Rachel said "Welcoton’s pictures hadn’t done the place justice Beautiful, blackish stone stretched out as far as the eye could see, the boulders piled in precise heaps, as though the building walls had been dominoes that had fallen on top of each other in a particular pattern Thick, green ivy vines snaked over, around, and soh the rocks and the snow that covered theht splashes of color, probably the wildflowers and other plants that bloomed in the main courtyard, despite the harsh winter weather

"Well," Alexei said "I suppose we should get going"

"Yeah," Carson said in a faint voice, peering over the edge of the trail and staring down into the chasestured at the ropes "The bridge is fairly sturdy, but I’h for all of us to cross at once So, just to be on the safe side, we’ll go over in groups of two Rory and I will go first, since we’re most familiar with the area Wait until we’re on the other side before sending the next group over"